Leeds United ‘perfect’ admission made after Elland Road news this week
Rory Smith believes the FA Cup tie between Leeds United and Harrogate Town on 11 January is the “perfect” game for both teams.
The Yorkshire rivals will be facing one another in the new year in what will be the first competitive meeting between the two clubs.
Speaking on the Football Daily Podcast (2 December), journalist Rory Smith shared his thoughts on the tie, stating the only thing that would have made it better is if the tie were at Harrogate rather than Elland Road.
“Leeds versus Harrogate is the perfect FA Cup draw,” Smith said.
“It’s a shame it’s not at Harrogate but as someone who grew up near Harrogate, it’s mad that Harrogate are in the third round of the FA Cup, it’s only the second time that’s happened.
“If you go to Elland Road, Betty’s will be alive with banter, with rivalry, it’ll be a rough sort of occasion for Harrogate to go to Elland Road.”
Leeds United have a lot to think about before their FA Cup tie versus Harrogate
With Leeds currently sitting third in the Championship table thanks to their 1-0 defeat against Blackburn Rovers, it feels like the West Yorkshire outfit have much bigger fish to fry at the moment rather than thinking about a game that’s over a month away.
However, the fact that League 2 outfit Harrogate are even able to face off against a team of the Whites’ stature in a competitive sense is exactly what the FA Cup is all about and why fans still love the competition.
As Smith said, it would have likely been better if the game was being held at The Exercise Stadium due to the amount of fans and money a fixture of this calibre would bring to the club.
The FA Cup clash will be in the middle of the January transfer window and while it’s likely that there won’t be any new faces in Leeds’ team if things haven’t improved by the halfway point in the season, you never know what might happen.
In other Leeds news, Brenden Aaronson will be buzzing with the latest news to have emerged from the Derby County camp.
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